As war clouds gather: Democrats back covert US attacks on Iran : Indybay

Leading congressional Democrats have given their approval to a vastly expanded program of US covert warfare against Iran, according to an article by investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, published in the New Yorker, and made available on the magazines web site Sunday. (See Preparing the BattlefieldThe Bush Administration steps up its secret moves against Iran)

President Bush issued a Presidential Finding, a classified notification to top congressional leaders about the covert program against Iran, last year, after the Democrats took control of the Senate and House of Representatives in the November 2006 elections. The Finding called for a series of operations, including funding of separatist groups working among Irans Arab and Baluchi minorities, as well as the kidnapping of members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard for interrogation across the border in Iraq and targeting individuals within Iran for assassination.

Hersh reports that Bush carried out the legal requirement that he notify the Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate, as well as the chairman and ranking members of the intelligence committees. The four Democrats are House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Jay Rockefeller, and House Intelligence Committee chairman Silvestre Reyes.

Hersh writes, Congress does have the means to challenge the White House once it has been sent a Finding. It has the power to withhold funding for any government operation. The members of the House and Senate Democratic leadership who have access to the Finding can also, if they choose to do so, and if they have shared concerns, come up with ways to exert their influence on Administration policy.

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